The Jets Celebrate a New Era of Football with a Commemorative Wine

The New York Jets organization is celebrating a new era of football by selling a limited release commemorative win on their team website called Jets Uncorked. The wine, a 2008 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, was created to help fans celebrate the team's new home, the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ.

The Jets Uncorked wine is available for purchase online for $27.99 and will be available at select retail locations in the local marketplace beginning in September. The team opted to make 8,000 cases of the wine after touring several wineries in Napa Valley and settling veteran winemaker Marco DiGuilio and lifestyle marketing agency Wine by Design to create the concept.

Per an article in the Huffington Post, NFL organizations are allowed to work with a wine manufacturer to produce limited edition promotional packaging to commemorate significant events. The initiative serves as a great way for organizations to honor select occasions like stadium grand openings, free agent signings, Championship victories, Hall of Fame inductees, and longstanding fan loyalty. As more organizations align look to bring on Official Wine Partners, expect to see similar tactics come to fruition in sports business. 

Have You Brought on a Wine Partner?

Are you looking for new ways to leverage wine partners? Are you looking to fill new sponsorship categories?

Wolf Blass, an Australian wine brand, is leveraging its official sponsorship of the RBS 6 Nations Cup (a globally recognized rugby tournament) with a $2MM marketing campaign designed to highlight similarities between the brand and the sport. The campaign draws attention to three (3) brand attributes - quality, passion, and character - that closely associate with the sport of rugby and resonate well with fans.

Wolf Blass will feature its sponsorship-related messaging through a variety of channels - television, print, outdoor, online, and at retail. The company is complementing its messaging with a promotion that enables consumers the chance to win "Ultimate Sports Prizes" via an in-store neck collar promotion (including VIP ticket packages to the Ryder Cup, premiership football matches, etc.).

Wolf Blass' partnership with the RBS 6 Nations Cup should serve as a benchmark for U.S. sports organizations looking to fill the wine category and fully leverage a partnership. Look for more examples to come in the near future.

Check out some of Wolf Blass' outdoor messaging below:

A special thanks to Matthew Carlton of XtremeInsight.com for his insights and contributions to this column. Source: Marketing Magazine.